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Pachelbel

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Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era.Pachelbel's work enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. However, he did not have much influence on the most important composers of the late Baroque such as Johann Sebastian Bach. Today Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D, the only canon he wrote. In addition to the canon, his most well-known works include the Chaconne in F minor, the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard variations.Pachelbel's music was influenced by southern German composers such as Johann Jakob Froberger and Johann Kaspar Kerll, Italians such as Girolamo Frescobaldi and Alessandro Poglietti, French composers, and the composers of the Nuremberg tradition. Pachelbel preferred a lucid, uncomplicated contrapuntal style that emphasized melodic and harmonic clarity. His music is less virtuosic and less adventurous harmonically than that of Dieterich Buxtehude although, like Buxtehude, Pachelbel experimented with different ensembles and instrumental combinations in his chamber music and, most importantly, his vocal music, much of which features exceptionally rich instrumentation. Pachelbel explored many variation forms and associated techniques, which manifest themselves in various diverse pieces, from sacred concertos to harpsichord suites.

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Member Since: 12/10/2007
Band Members: Johann Pachelbel
Influences: Education & Influences Born in the city of Nürnberg in 1653, Johann Pachelbel grew up in one of the most culturally active regions of Europe.Pachelbel's father enrolled him in the St. Lorenz high school, but soon recognized his music potential, so he arranged for his son to receive outside musical training from two leading instructors: Heinrich Schwemmer and organist Georg Caspar Wecker.He attended various non-music related courses at Nürnberg's Auditorium Ægidianum. Normally, such courses were reserved for the children of the upper class, but an exception was made in his case, due to his academic abilities. These abilities further served to help Pachelbel gain entrance to the Universität Altdorf, in 1669 at the age of fifteen. In addition to his studies, he served as organist at the Pfarrkirche. Unfortunately, his father was unable to support him financially, so he was forced to withdraw.In the spring of 1670, he enrolled in the Gymnasium Poeticum (the German equivalent of a high school, but is generally for university-bound students) in Regensburg. The school's administration was so impressed by his scholastic achievements that they gave him a scholarship and accepted him above and beyond their normal quota of students. They also made special arrangements for him to study music outside of the gymnasium with Kaspar Prentz . Prentz introduced Pachelbel to Italian music, an experience he would not have experienced inside the Gymnasium.Prentz left Regensburg in 1672, and soon after, in 1673, Pachelbel decided to travel to Vienna. There he was immersed in the works of Catholic composers from Italy and southern Germany. Johann Kaspar Kerll also moved to Vienna in 1673, and though Pachelbel's music reflects various aspects of Kerll's technique , no evidence exists that Pachelbel was ever trained directly by Kerll.The Vienna experience affected his style in a way that would not have been possible in the Protestant region where he grew up and was educated. Styles and techniques he learned here would be carried on and experimented with throughout his career.Composer & PerformerPachelbel began his professional career as an organist in various locations. As was stated above, his first job was as an organist at the Pfarrkirche. When he arrived in Vienna, he quickly found employment at the Stephanskirche (Church of St. Stevens) as a deputy organist.In 1677, he returned to Protestant Germany and settled in Eisenach, Thüringen (Thuringia). Two important events happened while we lived here. Through his appointment as court organist under Daniel Eberlin for Prince Johann Georg of Sachsen-Eisenach, he became known as not only one of the most predominant German organists, but also one of the most accomplished composers.Also in Eisenach, one of the most important events of the Baroque period took place. Here, Pachelbel met the Bach family and soon began to tutor Johann Ambrosius' children, including the young Johann Sebastian.Circa 1678, the Prince of Sachsen-Eisenach died, and Pachelbel began looking for other work. He received no immediate offers, so he asked Daniel Eberlin for a testimonial addressed to any interested parties. Eberlin was happy to oblige and noted in the letter that Pachelbel was "a perfect and rare virtuoso."Later that year, he was invited to nearby Erfurt to be the organist at the Protestant Predigerkirche (Preacher's Church). He remained at this post for 12 years, and during this time was married twice. He lost his first wife and son to the Plague in 1683 and remarried in 1684.Having felt that he had spent enough time in Erfurt, Pachelbel asked to be released from his position there and in August of 1690, traveled to the southern German city of Stuttgart where he assumed the post of court organist for Duchess Magdalena Sibylla of Württemberg. His stay in Stuttgart was cut short by the threat of a French invasion so, in the fall of 1692, he return to the area of Thüringen, and this time found himself in the city of Gotha.He served as the town organist, but due to his growing fame throughout Europe, was asked a month later to serve as an organist in Oxford, England, but rejected the offer. He was asked to return to Stuttgart, but also refused that offer.On April 20th, 1695, his mentor Georg Caspar Wecker died, leaving vacant the organist's post at Sebalduskirche (Church of St. Sebald) in his hometown of Nürnberg. The church authorities were so anxious to appoint him that they decided to forego the customary audition process and helped pay his moving expenses. In the spring of 1695, he officially asked to be released from his position in Gotha, and in July of that year returned home and held the position until his death on March 9th, 1706.EducatorThough he was officially a performer and composer for most of his life, Pachelbel took time out of his busy schedule -- often having to compose a new piece every week -- to tutor musicians on the side. The first and most important example of this occurred in Eisenach around 1677, where he became good friends with the Bach family.In 1680, Johann Ambrosius Bach asked Pachelbel to be the godfather of his daughter, Johanna Juditha. Six years later, he was asked to tutor the eldest son of the Bach family, Johann Christoph (a.k.a. Johann Balthasar). During his visits, he also taught some of J.A. Bach's other children, including a young Johann Sebastian Bach.In the years of 1693 and 1694, the Bach family was devastated by death. First J.A. Bach's twin brother, Johann Christoph Bach died. A short time later, J.A. Bach's wife, Elisabetha died, which devastated J.A. Bach, who in turn, died ten months later. This left the family shattered, and Johann Sebastian was sent to live with a cousin; however, this cousin had financial difficulties and sent Johann Sebastian to live with his brother Johann Christoph in Ohrdruf who trained him using techniques taught to him by Pachelbel.One interesting story comes from his time in Ohrdruf. For some unknown reason, Johann Christoph forbid J.S. from reading a manuscript of Pachelbel's original works. Every night for six months, Bach would sneak down to his brother's study and copy the manuscript by moonlight for his own use. So Pachelbel influenced Johann Sebastian's music both directly and indirectly. For this reason, he is referred to as the "geistige Stammvater Bach" or the intellectual progenitor of Bach.As he moved from various locations, he always took time to tutor students. This is especially evident during his times in Erfurt and his later years in Nürnberg. He also tutored all of his children. His son William Hieronymus filled Pachelbel's position at Sebalduskirche, shortly after his death. His other two sons, Carl Theodor & Johann Michael immigrated to America around 1730.While in America Carl Theodor made a bit of history. Following in his father's footsteps he found employment as an organist at the Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island sometime around 1733. In 1736, he traveled to New York City and at 6:00 PM on January 21, 1736 gave a concert in a local tavern. This event is significant as it was the first concert in the colonies of which records exist. Thus, Pachelbel's influence was not only limited to the European continent, but spread across the ocean to America.http://www.pachelbel.us/biography.shtml
Sounds Like: Pachelbel's Canon (also known as Canon in D major, or, more formally, Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins and Basso Continuo (Kanon und Gigue in D-Dur für drei Violinen und Basso Continuo)) is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It was written in or around 1680, during the Baroque period, as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but has since been arranged for a wide variety of ensembles. The Canon was originally paired with a gigue in the same key, although this composition is rarely performed or recorded today. It is well known for its chord progression, which has become one of the most used in popular music.
The first 9 bars of the Canon in D: the violins play a three-voice canon over the ground bass which provides the harmonic structure. Colors are used above to differentiate and highlight the individual canonic entries.
The same two-bar bass line and harmonic sequence is repeated over and over, about 30 times in total. The chords of this sequence are: D major (tonic), A major (dominant), B minor (tonic parallel or submediant—the relative minor tonic), F♯ minor (dominant parallel or mediant—the relative minor dominant), G major (subdominant), D major (tonic), G major (subdominant), and A major (dominant). This sequence (or rather, close imitations of it) appears elsewhere in the classical body of work. Handel used it for the main theme and all variations thereof throughout the second movement of his Organ Concerto No. 11 in G minor, HWV 310. Mozart employed it for a passage in Die Zauberflöte (1791), at the moment where the Three Youths first appear. He may have learned the sequence from Haydn, who had used it in the minuet of his string quartet Opus 50 No. 2, composed in 1785. Neither Handel's, nor Haydn's, nor Mozart's passage is an exact harmonic match to Pachelbel's, the latter two both deviating in the last bar, and may in fact have arisen more prosaically from one of the more obvious harmonisations of a descending major scale. For parallels in popular music, see below.The actual canon is played over the ground bass by the violins. In the beginning, the first violin plays the first two bars of the canon's melody. At this point, the second violin enters with the beginning of the melody, whilst the first violin continues with the next two bars of the canon. Then the third violin commences the canon, whilst the second violin plays the third and fourth bars and the first violin continues with the fifth and sixth. The three violin parts then follow one another at two bars' distance until the end of the piece. The canon becomes increasingly dense towards the middle of the piece as the note values become shorter (first in the first violin, then in the second, and finally in the third violin). Afterwards, the piece gradually returns to a less complex structure as the note values lengthen once more. There are some 28 repetitions of the ground bass in total. The canon is relatively simple and does not make use of any advanced counterpoint devices such as inversion, augmentation, diminution, etc.It is often seen to be a set of variations over a ground bass or chord progression, like various composers' variations on La Folia (many of which also date from the Baroque period), whereas it is actually a true canon at the unison over a ground bass, as can be seen above. In this regard it is similar to the 13th century round Sumer Is Icumen In.The piece is usually played at a very slow tempo (roughly 40 beats per minute), although faster renditions are occasionally heard.

Record Label: Pachelbel's Greatest Hit
Type of Label: Major